LISP

there are more Ss in possession than i remembered /

my name hinges on the S / is serpentine / has sibilance /

is simple / six lettered / a symbol / different from its sign /

sound shapes how we think about objects / the mouth

shapes how sound spills out / how the speaker’s seen /

a sigmatism is the homosexual mystique / my parents

sought treatments / i was sent to a speech / pathologist /

sixth grade / a student / she gave me exercises / i was

schooled / practiced silence / syllabics / syntax / my voice

sap in the high branches / my voice a spoonful of sugared

semen / i licked silk when i spoke / i spilt milk when i sang /

when i sang sick men tore wings from city birds / so

i straightened my sound / into a masculine i / the S

is derived from the semitic letter shin / meaning

my swishiness is hebraic / is inherited / it’s semantic / no

matter what was sacrificed / the tongued isaac / a son

against the stone of my soft palate / still i slipped /

my hand inside my neighbor’s / waistband & pulled back

pincers / sisyphus with the sissiest lips / parseltongued

assassin / sassy & passing for the poisoned sea / now

when i say please / let me suck your cock / i sound

straight / as the still secondhand / on a dead watch.